• Title/Summary/Keyword: University of British Columbia

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Localization of the SALMFamide neuropeptides in the starfish $Marthasterias$ $glacialis$

  • Yun, Sang-Seon;Thorndyke, Michael
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.114-120
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    • 2012
  • In echinoderms, the SALMFamide neuropeptides sharing the SxL/FxFamide motif seem widespread throughout the phylum and may be important signalling molecules that mediate various physiological functions. Recent identification of S1 and its analogues, MagS3 and MagS4, along with the S2 analogue, MagS2 from the starfish $Marthasterias$ $glacialis$, indicated that SALMFamides in the class Asteroidea are more diverse than previously thought. Further, isolation of the neuropeptides from the radial nerve cord and studies on pharmacological actions of the neuropeptides on the cardiac stomach warrant studies on the tissue distributions of these peptides in both the nervous and digestive systems. In the present study, antisera raised against an S1 analogue, KYSALMFamide, and an S2 analogue, KYSGLTFamide, were used to localize the distribution patterns of the S1- and S2-like immunoreactivities (S1-IR/S2-IR) in the nervous and digestive systems of the starfish. In the nervous system, cell bodies in the ectoneural part were immunostained for both S1 and S2 peptides, while in the digestive system, the basiepithelial plexus and mucosal cell bodies were immunoreactive. These immunocytochemical data support the notion that the SALMFamides may play a neuroendocrine role in mediating feeding behaviour of the starfish. Further studies including identification of peptide binding sites and differential expression pattern of mRNAs encoding the peptides are required to elucidate their physiological functions.

Enhanced thermal conductivity of spark plasma-sintered thorium dioxide-silicon carbide composite fuel pellets

  • Linu Malakkal;Anil Prasad;Jayangani Ranasinghe;Ericmoore Jossou;Lukas Bichler;Jerzy Szpunar
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.10
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    • pp.3725-3731
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    • 2023
  • Thorium dioxide (ThO2)-silicon carbide (SiC) composite fuel pellets were fabricated via the spark plasma-sintering (SPS) method to investigate the role of the addition of SiC in enhancing the thermal conductivity of ThO2 fuel. SiC particles with an average size of 1㎛ in 10 and 15 vol% were used to manufacture the composite pellets. The changes in the composites' densification, microstructure and thermal conductivity were explored by comparing them with pure ThO2 pellets. The structural and microstructural characterization of the composite pellets has revealed that SPS could manufacture high-quality composite pellets without having any reaction products or intermetallic. The density measurement by the Archimedes principles and the grain size from the electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis has indicated that the composites have higher densities and smaller grain sizes than the pellets without SiC addition. Finally, thermal conductivity as a function of temperature has revealed that sintered ThO2-SiC composites showed an increase of up to 56% in thermal conductivity compared to pristine ThO2 pellets.

A Qualitative Case Study on the Discrepancy between Children's Gender Schema and Gender Role Acceptability: With a Focus on the Intersexual Role Playing of Two Brothers' (형제 놀이 속에서 발현된 '코델리아' 형규의 이성지향자적(異性志向者的) 특성에 관한 질적 연구)

  • Lee, Eun-Ji;Kang, Hyoun-Gu;Pack, Yun-Hyun
    • Korean Journal of Child Studies
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.33-48
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    • 2015
  • It is generally known that children's development of 'gender schema' and 'gender role stereotype' has a positive relationship with the notion of 'gender role preference'. This study analyzed an unusual case focusing on the role playing of two brothers'. The elder brother, Hyoung-Gyoo, always preferred to take the female role, and he had a preference for feminine names like "Cordelia" whilst engaging in role playing situations. The brothers can be said to have crossed the border into the realm of intersexual role playing. The results revealed Hyoung-Gyoo's clear discrepancy between gender-related perceptions and reality, and showed his younger sibling Je-Gyoo's high level of acceptance towards his brother's extraordinary gender role preference. The results of this study can serve as a useful reference point for detailing unusual development from early childhood regarding 'opposite-gender-role seeking' characteristics.

Competing Market, Bureaucratic and Professional Work Logics in the Design and Implementation of IT on Professional Work : The Case of Medicine

  • Chiasson, Mike;Kumar, Nanda
    • Journal of Information Technology Services
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.39-66
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    • 2016
  • There is growing evidence that professional work is changing as a result of the application of information technology (IT). However, the impact of information technology on professional work has produced mixed results. Our paper considers the source of these mixed results through a greater analytical attention paid to the nature of professional work. Defined as work involving expertise expressed through abstract and formalized knowledge as well as extensive working knowledge, the professional work logic assumes the greatest autonomy and discretion for workers in collectively controlling work characteristics-division of labor and its permanence, control over education, and control over new entrants and the monitoring and disciplining of existing members. The impact of IT on professional work will be difficult to control and predict without considering the assumptions and tensions within and across the three major types of work logics (Professional, Market and Bureaucratic). Using healthcare as an example, the paper provides various propositions for researching the initiation and effects of ICT design through these three work logics. These propositions illustrate the active role that IS researchers can take in researching an important economic and work-related topic, professional work, and in understanding how ICT affects work-related expertise.

CEPHALOMETRIC STUDY OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA PATIENTS IN THE UPRIGHT AND SUPINE POSITIONS

  • Kim, Jong-Chul;Lowe, Alan A
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
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    • v.25 no.6 s.53
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    • pp.655-664
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    • 1995
  • Sixty male patients with polysomnographically documented OSA were included in this study. A pair of cephalograms were obtained in the upright and supine positions. In the supine position, the ANB angle, lower facial height and the cross-sectional area of soft palate increased and there was a decrease in the vertical airway length and oropharynx cross-sectional area. Positional changes did not affect the cross-sectional area of tongue, but the cross-sectional area of the oropharynx decreased in the supine position. The obese group had higher AI and RDI. Maxillary unit length, C3-H, the cross-sectional areas of tongue, soft palate and oropharynx were significantly greater in the group Obese than in non-obese group. No correlation was noted between the mandibular unit length and OSA severity, The group of small mandibular unit length showed shorter lower facial height and maxillary unit length, and smaller cross-sectional area of tongue than the long mandibular unit length group. Hyold bone positioned more inferiorly and cross-sectional area of nasopharynx decreased as the OSA severity increased.

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Current Status on Education and Evaluation of Acupuncture and TCM in Canada (캐나다의 침구 및 동양의학 교육과 평가 현황)

  • Hong, Jiseong;Han, Changhyun;Kang, Yeonseok
    • The Journal of Korean Medical History
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.107-115
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    • 2016
  • Purposes : The Purpose of this study was to review a current status on acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in Canada focusing on the rules of regulatory bodies of 5 states including legislation history, development in professional self-regulation, education and evaluation system. Methods : Based on literature review, we studied on 5 legislated states cases, educational accreditation status and licensure system. We also interviewed on a person who is a chair of CTCMA & CARB-TCMPA and more TCM practitioners in British Columbia within educational topics. Results & Conclusions : Acupuncture legislations have been approved by the governments in Canada between 1988 and 2014 within the acceptance of self-regulation. Since then, regulatory bodies in each states have tried to strengthen their duties and rights as a healthcare professionals. Based on firm laws and regulations, occupational competency-based education in acupuncture and TCM has been gradually improved and established quite well in parallel with a development of higher educational system in Canada.

Taxonomic assessment of North American species of the genera Cumathamnion, Delesseria, Membranoptera and Pantoneura (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta) using molecular data

  • Wynne, Michael J.;Saunders, Gary W.
    • ALGAE
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.155-173
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    • 2012
  • Evidence from molecular data supports the close taxonomic relationship of the two North Pacific species Delesseria decipiens and D. serrulata with Cumathamnion, up to now a monotypic genus known only from northern California, rather than with D. sanguinea, the type of the genus Delesseria and known only from the northeastern North Atlantic. The transfers of D. decipiens and D. serrulata into Cumathamnion are effected. Molecular data also reveal that what has passed as Membranoptera alata in the northwestern North Atlantic is distinct at the species level from northeastern North Atlantic (European) material; M. alata has a type locality in England. Multiple collections of Membranoptera and Pantoneura fabriciana on the North American coast of the North Atlantic prove to be identical for the three markers that have been sequenced, and the name Membranoptera fabriciana (Lyngbye) comb. nov. is proposed for them. Many collections of Membranoptera from the northeastern North Pacific (predominantly British Columbia), although representing the morphologies of several species that have been previously recognized, are genetically assignable to a single group for which the oldest name applicable is M. platyphylla.

The Effects of External Search Strategy on Innovation Performance: In the Context of Korean SMEs (외부 정보 탐색 전략이 혁신 성과에 미치는 영향에 대한 연구: 한국 중소기업을 대상으로)

  • Sim, Jeong Eun;Lim, Mi-Hee
    • Korean small business review
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.1-24
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    • 2019
  • This paper seeks to explore the effects of search strategies on innovation performance in the context of small and medium enterprises. The empirical results of 3,398 Korean SMEs demonstrate that there is a substitutive relationship between search depth and search width, and this substitutive relationship is weakened when a firm possesses collaboration experience. Furthermore, although these two types of search enhance innovation performance, the impact of search depth is greater than that of search width. The positive effect of search width on innovation performance is weakened when the firm adopts formal information protection mechanisms.

Challenges in nuclear energy adoption: Why nuclear energy newcomer countries put nuclear power programs on hold?

  • Philseo Kim;Hanna Yasmine;Man-Sung Yim;Sunil S. Chirayath
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.4
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    • pp.1234-1243
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    • 2024
  • The pressing need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions has stimulated a renewed interest in nuclear energy worldwide. However, while numerous countries have shown interest in nuclear power over the course of history, many of them have not continued their pursuit and chosen to defer or abandon their peaceful nuclear power projects. Scrapping a national nuclear power program after making initial efforts implies significant challenges in such a course or a waste of national resources. Therefore, this study aims to identify the crucial factors that influence a country's decision to terminate or hold off its peaceful nuclear power programs. Our empirical analyses demonstrate that major nuclear accidents and leadership changes are significant factors that lead countries to terminate or defer their nuclear power programs. Additionally, we highlight that domestic politics (democracy), lack of military alliance with major nuclear suppliers, low electricity demand, and national energy security environments (energy import, crude oil price) can hamper a country's possibility of regaining interest in a nuclear power program after it has been scrapped, suspended, or deferred. The findings of this study have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders in the energy sector as they strive to balance the competing demands of energy security, and environmental sustainability.

Development and Distribution of Dungeness Crab Larvae in Glacier Bay and Neighboring Straits in Southeastern Alaska: Implications for Larval Advection and Retention

  • Park, Won-Gyu;Shirley, Thomas C.
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.279-286
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    • 2008
  • Development and distribution of larval Dungeness crab, Cancer magister Dana, 1852 were investigated in southeastern Alaska from late May to mid-September in 2004. Larvae were collected during daylight hours at three inner and two outer Glacier Bay stations at the two different depths in the water column, above and below the thermocline. Larval density decreased dramatically for three larval stages, zoeae I(ZI), zoeae IV, and zoeae V(ZV), but relatively little for zoeae II and zoeae III. ZI predominated at all stations in late May and were collected until late July. Larval stages progressed seasonally from ZI to ZV and density decreased from ZI through ZV. The densities of each zoeal stage at the inner and outer bay stations and at the shallow and deep depths were similar. The density of each larval stage above(shallow) and below(deep) the thermocline and between inner and outer bay stations were not significantly different. The occurrence of larval Dungeness crab is dramatically later than in other parts of the species range, in that larvae appear in abundance beginning in late May. The pattern of spatial distribution of larval stages for the inland waters of Alaska was also markedly different than the patterns reported for Dungeness crab larvae from other parts of the species range, in that the early and intermediate stages occurred within inland waters; from British Columbia to California these larval stages increase in abundance with distance offshore.